The Three Forgotten Founders of the Society of Jesus
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THE The Three Forgotten Founders of the Society of Jesus Paschase Broet Jean Codure Claude Jay John W. Padberg, S.J. 29/2 • MARCH 1997 THE SEMINAR ON JESUIT SPIRITUALITY A group of Jesuits appointed from their provinces in the United States. The Seminar studies topics pertaining to the spiritual doctrine and practice of Jesuits, especially American Jesuits, and communicates the results to the members of the provinces. This is done in the spirit of Vatican IPs recom- mendation that religious institutes recapture the original inspiration of their founders and adapt it to the circumstances of modern times. The Seminar wel- comes reactions or comments in regard to the material that it publishes. The Seminar focuses its direct attention on the life and work of the Jesuits of the United States. The issues treated may be common also to Jesuits of other regions, to other priests, religious, and laity, to both men and women. Hence, the studies, while meant especially for American Jesuits, are not exclu- sively for them. Others who may find them helpful are cordially welcome to read them. CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE SEMINAR Peter D. Byrne, S.J., is presently engaged in a sabbatical program after serving as rector and president of St. Michael's Institute in Spokane, Wash. (1994). Francis X. Clooney, S.J., teaches comparative theology at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass. (1994). Ernest C. Ferlita, S.J., teaches theater at Loyola University, New Orleans, La. (1994). Gerald P. Fogarty, S.J., teaches history in the department of religious studies at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. (1995). M. Dennis Hamm, S.J., teaches Scripture at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb. (1994). John P. Langan, S.J., is visiting professor of philosophy at Loyola University, Chicago, 111. (1996). John W. Padberg, S.J., is chairman of the Seminar, editor of STUDIES, and direc- tor and editor at the Institute of Jesuit Sources (1986). Clement J. Petrik, S.J., is assistant to the provincial of the Maryland Province for pastoral ministries (1995). Carl F. Starkloff, S.J., teaches theology at Regis College, Toronto, Canada (1995). James S. Torrens, S.J., is an associate editor of America in New York (1996). The opinions expressed in STUDIES are those of the individual authors thereof. Parenthe- ses designate year of entry as a Seminar member. Copyright © 1997 and published by the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality 3700 West Pine Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108 (Tel. 314-977-7257; Fax 314-977-7263) The Three Forgotten Founders of the Society of Jesus Paschase Broet (1500-1562) Jean Codure (1508-1541) Claude Jay (1504-1552) John W. Padberg, S.J. studies in the SPIRITUALITY OF JESUITS 29/2 • MARCH 1997 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/threeforgottenfo292padb For your information ... Some things do happen as predicted! In the last issue of STUDIES I promised that the CD-ROM containing all the writings of St. Ignatius and the book containing the Memoriale and letters of Pierre Favre would soon be available. They are here and available now! Please see the advertisements in this issue of STUDIES for more details and for informa- tion on how you can order them. The "three forgotten founders" presented in this STUDIES are not the only early Jesuits about whom it would be helpful to have several full-length treatments in English. As I mention in the article, Claude Jay does enjoy such attention in Fr. William Bangert's joint biography of Jay and Salmeron. And Fr. Bangert also published on Nadal in his Jerome Nadal, S.J.: Tracking the First Generation ofJesuits (ed. Thomas M. McCoog, S.J. [Chicago: Loyola Press, 1992]). But for Juan Polanco there is no such biography, even though, as The First Jesuits says, he along with Ignatius and Nadal was one of "the three [who] outstrip the others by far." Nor are there such biographies of Simao Rodrigues or Nicolas Bobadilla, who were not by any means simply naysayers or odd characters, as they are sometimes portrayed. They also made serious contribu- tions to the foundations and activities of the Society. If we move somewhat further along in Jesuit history, there is no full biography of Claudio Aquaviva in any language, and yet he was surely the most important general except for Ignatius and also the longest-serving general in our history. It would be easy to name another ten Jesuits from the first century of the Society's existence for whom we ought to have serious biographies. And this says nothing about the book that sometime ought to be written entitled The Suppression, Survival, and Restoration of the Society ofJesus. So you see that there will be enough for a younger generation of Jesuit historians to begin to tackle. To turn from history to fiction—which has its own truth—you might want to read a recently published and extraordinary novel, The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. To give the plot in a nutshell (or part of it), in the year 2019 a radio telescope detects extraordinarily beautiful songs from outer space. The Jesuit general sends an expedition made up of four members of the Society, two laymen and two laywomen, to reach the world from which those songs came. Forty years later one survivor returns in a desperate and disgraced condi- tion. What happened? In a sense, this is in part science fiction but it is far, far more than that. It is a moving story of memorable people in utterly unusual circumstances, who live out the strengths and the weaknesses inherent in their very different and vividly portrayed personalities, and who in all innocence precipitate for the beings they have come to serve and for themselves a tragedy in that they could never have foreseen. And what about the Jesuits specifically? In so many ways the author gets us right, in our attitudes, our training, our activities, our spirituality. How she does this, I do not know. One of the Jesuits is the central figure in the story. He is the person who returns to earth in 2059 to answer the questions about what happened. The whole novel impels the reader to ask questions, basic questions about encountering another people, about our own assumptions, about what good and evil means—about God. But don't worry: while this novel may teach a lot, it is not didactic. Rather, it is an utterly fascinating story, a book that is hard to put down. Finally, a request. Father George Ganss, who was the founding chair- man of the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality and the first editor of STUDIES is, at the age of 91, at work on his memoirs. If any of the readers of these pages have recollections, memories, documents about their relationships with George, or about other incidents that they may recall in his life and work, please send them to me here at the Institute of Jesuit Sources (of which George was also the founder). It would be especially helpful if former members of the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality between 1969 and 1985, when George was its chairman and editor of STUDIES, could respond to this request. Send your own version of the story and/or any documents that you think might be useful. Both George and I will be most grateful for any help you can give. John W. Padberg, SJ. Editor IV CONTENTS Preface vii Introduction 1 Beginnings, 1500-1537 3 Paschase Broet (1500?-) 3 Jean Codure (1508-) 4 Claude Jay (1504-) 5 Venice and Rome, 1537-1538 7 Missions from the Pope, 1539 10 The Society of Jesus, 1540- 12 Everywhere in the World, 1541-1562 14 Jean Codure, 1540-1541 15 Claude Jay, 1541-1552 17 Germany, 17 Education, 19 The Council of Trent, 21 The Bishopric, 23 Ferrara, 26 Ingolstadt, 28 Augsburg, 29 Vienna and the First College, 31 Paschase Broet, 1541-1562 33 Ireland, 33 Italy, 35 France, 38 Conclusion 41 SOURCES: Writings of the Forgotten Founders 47 LETTER TO THE EDITOR 52 v NEW! FIRST FULL ENGLISH TRANSLATION The Spiritual Writings of Pierre Favre The Memoriale and Selected Letters and Instructions This is a long-awaited first full English translation from the definitive critical edition of Favre's works in the Monumenta Historica Societatis Jesu. A spiritual autobiography is a record of God's dealings with an individual and the person's response to God. Pierre Favre's Memoriale is fully in that tradition. Favre, the person whom Ignatius of Loyola thought the best director of the Spiritual Exercises, left as a legacy both a spiritual autobiography/diary traditionally called the Memoriale and a series of letters and instructions. The twenty-seven selected letters and instructions range across time, space and recipients, in time from 1540 to 1546, in space from almost one end of Western Europe to the other. The recipients include, among many others, Ignatius Loyola in Rome and Francis Xavier in India, King John III of Portugal and a confraternity of laypersons, and a Carthusian prior in Cologne and a group setting out on a pilgrimage. The introduction places Favre's life and work in its historical setting, discusses the characteristics of spiritual autobiography, deals with the discernment of spirits in Favre's work, describes the several versions of the text of the Memoriale, puts in context the letters and instructions included in this volume, and tells what happened to the memory of and devotion to Favre after his death. xvi + 437 pp. Glossary, Indexes Hardcover: ISBN 1-880810-25-5 / $57.95 plus postage Paperback: ISBN 1-880810-26-3 / $39.95 plus postage The Institute of Jesuit Sources 3700 W.